King Charles III and Queen Camilla were at their most emollient in Washington, where they exchanged a flurry of presents with Donald and Melania Trump. The King’s gifts to President Trump included a framed copy of the design plans for the Resolute Desk, which was originally given to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1880. Trump appeared to shelve his hostility toward the United Kingdom for declining to participate in the Iran war, but he quickly made up for his forbearance by pummeling another NATO ally. 

After speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday for 90 minutes, Trump dispensed with his previous bonhomie. He upbraided Germany, whose conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz had the temerity to dub the inconclusive Iran War an embarrassing humiliation – “the Americans clearly have no strategic plan.” Trump responded: “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next period of time. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Like Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest, who avers that “I never change, except in my affections,” Trump has a marked proclivity for veering all over the place when it comes to America’s ties to longstanding allies in Europe and Asia. But........

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